


Light Unlooked For

by Golddude22



Series: From Darkness, Light [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28043790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golddude22/pseuds/Golddude22
Summary: Five months into their life in the underworld, Anakin and Barriss find someone they weren't expecting to.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Barriss Offee & Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Series: From Darkness, Light [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012362
Comments: 31
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I don't have to introduce them all, here are the names of the children with them.
> 
> Anni Chanti. Pantoran girl. Aged 11  
> Katooni. Tholothian Girl. Aged 11  
> Gungi. Wookiee boy. Aged 11  
> Breeala. Human girl. Aged 11  
> Ganodi. Rodian girl. Aged 11  
> Kalami. Zabrak boy. Aged 10  
> Ashla. Togrutan girl. Aged 8  
> Kellan. Human boy. Aged 6  
> Alura. Human Girl. Aged 6  
> Hesha. Twi'lek girl. Aged 4  
> Zimaza. Mirialian girl. Aged 4  
> Cato. Human boy. Aged 4  
> Grogu. Unknown. Aged 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barriss muses on their new lives.

The force certainly worked in mysterious ways, Barriss thought with grim amusement.

She wouldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams just five months ago that she'd be hiding in the lower levels of Coruscant from the government with a dozen traumatized children and the man whose Padawan she'd framed for crimes she tried not to think about anymore.

A man who probably hated her more than anyone else in the Galaxy before the fall of the Republic and the rise of the empire.

A man who was sitting across from her, wiping the face of one of the younger children and giving her a long suffering look as the boy struggled against him.

A man she'd come to depend on, as he depended on her and it made her laugh when she though of how he'd become the one constant in her life now that the galaxy was in turmoil, because even this deep in the underworld, they knew how bad it was getting.

They both watched the holonews after the children had gone to bed, seen the reports of how Senator Organa had been killed attempting to smuggle Master Yoda off world. Yoda had escaped, but the new Emperor and Empress promised he would soon be brought to justice for his crimes.

Soon after, they were reporting the deaths of Senator Mothma and dozens of others that were threats to the new regime, deaths that were blamed on the surviving Jedi, carried out as vengeance for their plan to seize Senate the being foiled, and the disappearance of many others, including Senator Chuchi, who they figured was probably smart enough to run before they came for her.

Then there had also been reports on the Jedi and they'd watched in horror as they listed all those that had been killed, and she'd felt a bit of hope when her former Master's name wasn't listed among the thousands that had fallen on that awful day, and when her name appeared among those still at large, giddy relief, though not to the extent that Anakin had, who all but sagged in relief when Obi-wan was listed as the second greatest threat to the new Empire.

Though the name they both hoped and dreaded to see wasn't on either list, which Barriss told him was probably because she wasn't considered a Jedi any more, but that didn't offer any hope either way.

The hardest time had been about a month after they'd arrived, when former Senator Amidala, now Empress Amidala, had given a speech specifically addressed to Anakin, declaring him a traitor of the worst kind and listing crimes he was charged with. From the attempted murder of their new Emperor, to an attempt on her own life and that of her newly born children that killed their father, she vowed he would be brought to justice and placed a twenty million credit bounty on him to be captured alive.

When the speech had finished, she'd watched Anakin literally crumple before her eyes and nothing she could think of had stemmed the racking sobs that had shaken his body, so she'd just held him and let him cry into her shoulder until eventually, they subsided.

Hours later, she'd gotten the full story from him, everything he'd left out of his first explanation that night and she'd been shocked to say the least, having never suspected he was married to Amidala or that he was the father of her children, which left her wondering what had gone wrong between them for her to hate him this much.

She would have asked, but he obviously had no idea either, so she'd put the question aside for when she had the former Senator at the end of her lightsaber and hugged him tighter, which he'd returned and she'd felt the last of the tension and unease between them fade.

She didn't remember falling asleep like that, but they were awakened the next morning by a grinning Anni, who asked, as they quickly separated, both blushing furiously, what they wanted for breakfast.

She did remember mumbling something about rehydrated Nerf and glancing at Anakin, who just nodded, not looking at her until Anni had returned to the kitchen.

“I'm sorry about last night,” he'd said quietly. “And thank you, for...”

“You're welcome,” she'd replied softly, giving his hand a squeeze.

He'd smiled at that and looked at her properly, and she saw something change in his eyes before he'd dropped his gaze and stood, heading for the kitchen to help Anni.

After that, things had been much better between them, she no longer tiptoed around him and he'd stopped dropping the vague insinuations that had made up much of their conversation that first month and they'd only grown closer since then.

Privately, she thought he'd been holding onto the chance that he could patch things up between them, something her speech had thoroughly shattered, like the last piece of his old life that had been cut free, allowing him to move on and fully accept their new life.

It was something she hadn't realised she'd been missing, having someone actually care about you. Not like what it'd been like in the temple, where there was only the bare minimum of interest shown in there well being, but really care in the way Anakin seemed to now. 

With frequent reassuring touches when they were together, sitting close when they weren't scavenging for supplies or dealing with the children and on the odd occasion, falling asleep in each others arms after a particularly hard day.

And that wasn't the only way things improved. The children were also slowly recovering, though many still woke up in the night with nightmares and had to be comforted by her or Anakin, and it was rare for them to wake without at least one kid having crawled in with them, particularly the younger ones, though the older ones did fairly regularly too.

They did what they could to help them, trying to provide as much of a routine as they could to keep their minds occupied and to stop them from getting bored from being stuck inside between their periodic excursions to find more supplies, including continuing their Jedi training and supplementing it with training in other areas that will be essential for their survival in their new way of life.

Other days they just took it easy and played games or watched holovids when they couldn't muster up the energy to do something productive.

And for the time being, their plan was just to stay alive long enough to do something about the new Empire, which was going to be hard since they currently lived in one of the most dangerous parts of Coruscant and both of them had been injured more than once on scavenging excursions and Anakin had almost died once already. Those had been the worst hours of her life since they'd come down here, struggling to save his life after he'd been attacked by a pack of Stone Mites, feelings of helplessness almost overwhelming her as she and Anni worked to stem the bleeding.

It'd been close, but they did save him and it drove home just how attached they'd all become to each other, the thought of losing any of them now was...

She cut that thought off with a shake of her head and returned her attention to Anakin as he finished cleaning Cato's face and sent the boy to bed with a pat on the head.

As soon as he was gone, Hesha took his place, giving Anakin a goodnight hug that had become a part of their nightly routine since their first week down here.

“Goodnight,” Anakin said softly as she pulled away.

“Night,” she replied, head tails swishing as she turned to give Barriss a hug too.

After Hesha came Katooni, then Ganodi, Kalami, Breeala, Ashla, Anni, Kellan, Alura, Zimaza and finally Gungi, who was carrying the fifteenth member of their group, Grogu.

And as she watched him reach his little arms out to Anakin, Barriss still couldn't believe it had taken them a week to notice they had thirteen, not twelve children with them. 

They had been under a lot of stress and both of them had been exhausted at the time, which she supposed accounted for some of it. That, and the fact that she'd assumed he'd been a toy of one of the kids until she'd been making the beds when she picked him up to brush any dust off him and he'd bitten her.

She'd dropped him in shock and let out a cry of surprise that had drawn Anakin over and they'd both stared down at what she could only describe as a baby version of Yoda.

And the boy had glared back at them. Well, at her at least, he didn't seem to mind when Anakin picked him up and took him to the kitchen, humming happily as Anakin gave him some food.

That had led to an interesting conversation with the children about not telling them things and they all promised to tell them about anything even remotely important in the future.

Which had led to all sorts of interesting conversations, she thought with a smile as Gungi turned to her.

A smile which only widened when she saw Grogu glaring up at her as ferociously as he could. He'd never forgiven her for thinking he was a toy.

“Goodnight you two,” she smiled, pulling them both into a hug.

Gungi rumbled something, while Grogu muttered darkly, refusing to look at her now, as Gungi turned away.

She let out a sigh as they headed for bed, before turning to Anakin's grinning face.

“What?' she asked.

“He's still mad at you?” he smirked.

“Yep,” she sighed, rubbing a hand across her face.

Anakin sighed too.

“He'll come round eventually,” he said consolingly, getting to his feet and giving her shoulder a light squeeze as he headed for the kitchen.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked, with a glance over his shoulder.

“Some tea would be nice,” she replied with a smile.

He nodded and returned a minute later with two cups of steaming tea, handing one to her, before sitting down beside her.

She took a sip and savoured the strong, bitter taste as the warmth of the drink flowed through her.

They drank in silence for a while, enjoying each others company without a dozen kids around.

“We should consider trying to get off world again,” he said eventually, finishing off the last of his drink and setting his cup down quietly.

She finished her own cup and thought about that for a moment.

They'd discussed the same idea in their first week here but, lacking the funds, knowledge and a clear picture on what exactly was going on in the world above them, they had decided it was too risky to attempt then.

Now however, things were quietening down as people settled into their new lives under the Empire and the controls on departure from Coruscant were relaxing, meaning they'd have an easier time either stealing a ship or hitching a ride with smugglers or one of the other, less savoury types. 

“Yes,” she agreed with a sigh. “We can't stay here forever.”

“We'll need to have an airtight plan, back up plans and to find a ship,” she added.

“Yeah,” he agreed, rubbing a hand through the beard he'd grown to help hide his identity. “It'll take some time to arrange as well, so we want to give ourselves plenty of time to organise.”

“Yes, but something we can worry about tomorrow, I don't have the energy tonight,” she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a yawn.

“You should get some sleep,” she said, still leaning against him. “Your body is still recovering from those bites.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, wincing as he recalled being attacked by the pack of Stone Mites.

She put her arms around him and gave him a hug. He returned it and they sat there for a while, enjoying the closeness and taking heart from the fact that they'd survived another day.

After a while, they broke apart and he stood, giving her a smile she would never have expected from him just a few months ago, before taking their cups to the kitchen.

Then she watched him walk over to his bed, checking on the children as he passed them, before flopping onto his bunk and kicking off his boots, before wrapping himself in his blankets and quickly falling asleep.

Neither of them changed into sleepwear as they wanted to be ready for anything that could happen at a moments notice.

She watched him for a bit longer, then headed for her own bed, smiling sadly as she found Zimaza already in there, huddled under her blankets.

Barriss moved the girl over, sending her calm through the force as she began whimpering in her sleep, before climbing in beside her and holding her close.

Zimaza was doing the worst of all the children, and given what Anakin had told her about where he'd found her, she wasn't surprised. But she was getting better, it was just taking longer than any of them liked.

“It'll be alright,” she whispered softly as the girl stilled. “You're safe now, no one can hurt you.”

Zimaza let out one last quiet gasp, then relaxed, burrowing back into Barriss as she made herself comfortable again.

Sighing softly, Barriss relaxed as well and her gaze turned to the bunk across from her and Anakin's sleeping form, wondering what exactly was going on between them and what Anakin thought their relationship was.

Everything she'd read in the past said they were a couple now, but was that what he thought? Is that was she thought? Did she even want that? Maybe... But did he want that? Was it too soon to be thinking like that since he'd only lost his wife recently?

All those thoughts and more raced around her head and she was still trying to figure it out when her exhaustion finally won and she drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. : )
> 
> I'm hoping to have the next three chapters out by the end of the week, but we'll see how I go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin goes shopping and meets someone he does not expect too.

It was with a strange tickling sensation across his face that Anakin awoke the next morning.

Brushing at it with a hand, he opened his eyes to find himself with a face full of fur.

He sighed as a slight smile spread across his face and he carefully shifted so as not to disturb the Wookiee or the two other bodies he could feel pressed against him. Cato and Anni by their force signatures, he thought.

He rolled over so he was lying on his back and confirmed it was Anni and Cato pressed into his side, huddled together under blankets they'd brought from their own beds. Sighing again as he took in their uncomfortable positions, he adjusted them so that Anni was beside him with room to stretch out and, being careful he didn't disturb Gungi, pulled Cato up so he could stretch out across his chest.

Both children let out soft sounds of protest at being moved, but neither woke as they settled into their more comfortable positions and he let out a sigh of relief. As much as he liked the kids, it was too early and he didn't feel like dealing with them just yet.

He lay there in silence for a while, just listening to the sound of the others breathing, considering places they could go once they got off Coruscant.

Anything near the core or mid-rim wasn't worth considering, neither were any of the worlds they were familiar with, and he never wanted to go anywhere near Hutt space again anyway. Which left just the outer-rim, unless they wanted to go out into wild space.

After some more thought, he added a couple of worlds to his possible list. Yavin 4 and Lothal. Yavin 4 because he'd been there and knew they could easily hide and build up a reasonable base inside one of the temples without being discovered, and Lothal because all he knew of it was that it was a sparsely populated farming world, far from any major hyperspace lanes and one that wouldn't look twice at a bunch of refugees from the core settling on the outskirts of one of their towns.

But before they decided anything, they'd have to have a proper discussion on it, with everyone, he thought, glancing at Barriss's sleeping form in the bunk next to him, smiling as he found her in a similar situation to him, with two kids lying across her and one snuggled into her side.

As if sensing his amusement, her eyes popped open and after blinking a couple of times, they focused on him and she gave him a sleepy smile.

“Morning,” she said softly, eyes twinkling in the low light of the room.

“Morning,” he replied with a smirk. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you,” she grinned. “What about you?”

“Oh yes, quite well,” he replied. “At least until I breathed in a mouthful of fur.”

Barriss snorted softly and raised her head so she could see Gungi on his other side, before dropping back onto her pillow.

“Gungi hasn't had nightmares for awhile,” she said with a bit of concern. “I wonder what brought them back.”

“From my own experience, that's how they tend to work,” he said quietly. “During the war, I'd have them for months on end, then nothing for a while before they returned again.”

“Did anything help?” she asked.

“Not really,” he replied. “Obi-Wan even made me go see the mind healers once, but that didn't help either.”

“I suppose it's just a matter of time,” Barriss mused. “Time and a safe environment.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Not much else we can do, unless you studied any of the mind healing techniques?”

“No,” she replied sadly. “I never had the chance before...”

“It all became too much,” he said quietly.

“Yeah.”

They didn't say anything for a while after that, each lost in their own thoughts.

Thoughts that were interrupted when Zimaza started whimpering, quietly at first, but gaining in volume the longer she went on.

“It's alright Zima, you're safe,” Barriss whispered softly, gently stroking the girl's hair, which he knew usually helped.

It didn't seem to this time as her nightmare continued.

“No... no... no...” she whimpered, more loudly this time, making his heart clench as her little face scrunched up in terror.

She was obviously having a similar effect on Barriss, who's eyes were shining as she tried to comfort the girl.

Suddenly, she jerked upright and let out a loud shout as her eyes sprung open, panting as she looked around in terror, before she realised she was safe and let out a sob of relief as she collapsed back onto Barriss, who wrapped her in a hug, whispering soothing nothingness as Zima slowly got her breathing back under control, tears streaming down her cheeks that were wiped away when she buried her face in Barriss's robes.

Barriss looked like she was close to it as well as she held the girl close.

“Is she alright?” A voice asked, catching him by surprise.

He looked down to find Anni looking back, concern evident on her face.

“Yeah, she's fine,” he assured her. “It was just a nightmare.”

“She sounded worse than usual,” Anni pressed.

“Yeah, but she's alright now,” he promised, as Cato and Gungi looked at him as well and he could feel the rest of the children stirring now too, awakened by Zima's shout.

“Come on,” he said, peeling back his blankets and lifting Cato and Anni up so he could get out of bed. “Let's make some breakfast, she's probably hungry after such a rough night,” he added quietly.

Anni nodded determinedly, evidently wanting to do something to help, while Cato and Gungi just burrowed back under his blankets.

Anakin rolled his eyes as he headed for the kitchen, closely followed by Anni.

“So,” he said, looking through the pantry. “What do you feel like today? Ration cubes, ration bars, ration paste or wet rations?” he asked, holding up a packet of squishy brown stuff their home had been stocked with when they arrived.

“Hmm, well we haven't had ration paste this week,” Anni said brightly.

“There's a reason for that,” he sighed, but grabbed fifteen packets of the stuff anyway and lay them out on the bench as Anni took out fifteen bowls and spoons.

“Mmm,” Anni said sarcastically as she started helping him squeeze the brown, bland and in every way unappealing paste into the bowls, before carrying them over to the table where the other children were beginning to take their seats, sighing as their breakfast was placed before them.

While Anni served her fellow children, Anakin prepared two bowls and carried them over to the bunk Barriss was still sitting in with Zima.

“How's she doing?” he asked quietly, setting the bowls on the dressing table beside the bed.

“Better,” Barriss replied with a tired smile, running her hand through the girl's hair. “I just wish there was something I could do to help,” she admitted.

“Just being there is enough, trust me, I know it doesn't seem like much, but it helps,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

“I hope so,” she sighed. “It kills me, seeing her like this.”

“I know,” he sighed. “For now, see if she'll eat some of this,” he continued, passing her one of the bowls. “I know it's not the most appealing stuff, but it is nutritious and I'll see if I can find something more... food like later.”

“Alright,” she said, taking the bowl from him. “Hey, Zima, you feel like some food?”

When the girl nodded, he stood and walked back to the kitchen to get his own breakfast and attend to the other job that had become his over the last five months. 

Feeding the baby.

Sighing to himself, he grabbed the last two bowls on the bench and joined the kids at the table, taking the empty seat between Anni and Grogu.

Anni smiled at him as she ate her paste without complaining, unlike most of the other children. While Grogu gave him a look that said _“Kriffing try it, I dare you”_ as he stuck a spoon in his bowl and dug out a decent sized portion.

“Come on, don't give me that look,” Anakin said as he held the spoon in front of Grogu's firmly closed mouth. “It's food, you know you like it.”

He pressed the spoon lightly against Grogu's mouth and after a few more moments of resistance, he grudgingly opened it and swallowed the spoonful.

“There, that wasn't so bad was it?” Anakin smiled, getting another spoonful ready, which Grogu took without complaint this time, and another and another after that until the bowl was empty and he wanted to get down.

Anakin lifted him off his stool and passed him to Anni, who carried him off to get ready for the day.

With that out of the way, he turned his attention to his own bowl of paste as Barriss joined him at the table.

“She's getting ready for lessons,” she said to his unasked question.

He nodded and ate a mouthful of the stuff, trying not to make a face at the taste.

Evidently, he failed as Barriss let out a small chuckle, before starting on her own bowl.

“So what's on the agenda for today?” Barriss asked between mouthfuls.

“Just the usual training, and I want to track down some parts and a few more blasters and charge packs,” he answered. “And some better food,” he added as an afterthought, scraping the last of the paste from his bowl.

Barriss stopped eating and turned to him and he knew what she was going to say.

“Don't worry, I'll be careful,” he promised, pre-empting her.

“Like you were last time?” she asked. “Maybe I should go this time?”

“You've done the last three excursions, it's only fair I go this time. Besides, I'm pretty well healed and I'll only be going to the market, not the lower levels, the worst that can happen there is getting mugged or shot,” he smirked, trying to ease her worry.

But it didn't have the desired effect as she reached over and squeezed his arm, eyes imploring him to listen.

“They can't lose you too,” she said softly, and her eyes told him what she left unsaid. She couldn't lose him either.

It was something he hadn't expected to arise from the situation, though he knew for a fact that bonds formed faster in highly stressful situations. And, much as he tried to deny it, even to himself, his feelings towards her had changed as well.

Before, he hadn't hated her so much as... He wasn't even sure what he'd felt before, he'd given her so little thought in the aftermath of the trial, too focused on his grief at losing Ahsoka, then the almost endless battles he'd thrown himself into afterwards to try and bury it, he'd never stopped to actual think about what he'd felt for her at the time.

Now, he knew his feelings were different, but at the same time, he didn't know if they were purely platonic or something more.

Something he decided wasn't the right time to explore now, so he placed his hand over hers.

“I promise I'll be fine,” he said quietly, giving her hand a squeeze.

She sighed, but nodded and finished the last of her breakfast in silence.

“When are you planning to head out?” she asked as she took their bowls to the kitchen.

“Ah, after the morning lessons I think, I don't fancy being out in the early rush again,” he said with a shudder.

“Yeah, once is enough,” Barriss said with a shudder of her own as she rinsed their bowls out and set them to dry in the rack.

“There anything you want me to look for while I'm out?” he asked.

“Umm...” Barriss frowned thoughtfully. “Aside from some better food, maybe you could get some of those fruit pastes you got a few weeks back, they really liked them and we need a more varied diet.”

“Okay,” he nodded, adding them to his mental list. “Anything else.”

“If you could find another datapad that would be a great help, it's hard to teach all of them when they have to share just two between them.”

“Alright, I'll see what I can do,” he nodded, as Anni came over to them.

“We're ready to start,” she told them.

“Okay,” he nodded. “I'll be there in a minute.”

Anni nodded, then turned around and headed back to where the rest of the kids were waiting.

“You don't want to keep them waiting,” Barriss smiled when he didn't get up.

“I know,” he sighed, getting to his feet. “We can talk more later then, I wanted to ask where you think we could go once we get off world.”

“I'll give it some thought and we can discuss it tonight,” she replied.

“Okay,” he agreed, before heading over to join the children.

“Alright,” he said, moving to stand in front of them all. “Let's begin, Anni, if you could demonstrate where we left off?”

The girl nodded and joined him at the front, before beginning the basic martial arts routine he'd been showing them for the last few days, with Barriss's assistance when his injuries prevented him from doing certain things, adding moves here and there as they got the hang of what he was showing them.

“Very good,” he said when she finished and returned to her place. “All of you this time and if you're really good, we'll try something harder later.”

That got them excited he noted with a smile as they took up positions.

“Begin,” he commanded.

  


* * *

  


A few hours later he dismissed them so they could take a break for an hour or so before Barriss took over to teach them some healing skills and other things he couldn't.

“They're coming along nicely,” Barriss commented from the sofa she'd been watching his last class, basic lightsaber forms.

“Yeah, it would help if they didn't have to share lightsabers, but they're doing pretty well all things considered,” he said, sitting down beside her.

“Something to add to the list,” she smirked.

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “The parts would be easy enough to find, it's getting the crystals that'll be hard.”

Barriss sighed in agreement, then changed the subject.

“When are you looking to head out?” she asked.

“Very shortly,” he replied. “I just need to change, then I'm off.”

“What some help?” She smirked.

“Can I come too?” Anni asked, popping up from behind the sofa.

“Not this time,” he said, ruffling her hair. “But you can help me get ready.”

“Okay,” she said excitedly, and ran off to get the bag of rags he usually wore when he had to leave their home.

While she did that, he took off his over tunic and boots, not noticing how watched him out of the corner of her eye, and when Anni returned he quickly pulled on the rags and other accessories that made up his disguise and allowed Anni to spread a good amount of grease over his face to complete the look.

When she was finished, he looked no different to the thousands of other beings unfortunate enough to live down here.

As a final touch, he pulled on a tattered pack and strapped a blaster to his hip.

Barriss and Anni gave him a quick look over before declaring him gross and dirty enough to pass unnoticed outside.

With a last smile, he said goodbye to the kids and headed for the door. Barriss and Anni followed him over and held the door open as he stepped through into the guard room that formed the barrier between their home and the outside world.

“Be careful,” she said quietly, giving his shoulder one last squeeze.

“I will,” he smirked, giving Anni a smile before Barriss closed the door behind him and he approached the door to the alley.

He cracked it open and peaked out, making sure there was no one laying in wait for him before he stepped out into the dimly lit street, hunching his shoulders and ducking his head so that his posture matched the miserable beings that made up much of the population down here.

On the way to the market, he stopped frequently, back tracked and generally did his best to make sure that no one was following him and that no one could follow him home again. Not that it was really necessary, no one even gave him a second glance anyway, after all, who would expect the most wanted man in the galaxy to hiding down here.

But because he didn't want to take that chance, it took him over an hour to reach the market that was his destination today, the one place he knew he could find, buy or if it came to it, steal most of the things he needed.

As he drew closer, the crowds grew bigger and he weaved through them carefully, trying not to draw any attention to himself as he headed for the first stall on his list.

“What do you want?” The owner of the stall demanded when he stepped up to him.

“Hold-out blasters and charge packs,” he informed him.

“Everything I've got is on that table there,” the guy said, pointing to the table on the far left.

Anakin grunted his thanks and stepped over to have a look at them, under the watchful eye of the owner.

After browsing through them, he picked out half a dozen and got a number of charge packs to go with each.

As he paid for them with credits he and Barriss had lifted from a spice dealers den, he caught sight of a familiar weapon half hidden at the back of the man's stock.

“Can I see that DC?” He asked.

“Sure, but they're illegal to own now,” the owner informed him.

“Do I look like I care about that?” he growled.

“I guess not,” the owner smirked, handing it to him.

It was in remarkably good condition, all things considered, all the parts were in working order and it had been well maintained.

“How much?” Anakin demanded.

“Four hundred,” the owner replied.

“Three hundred, with charge packs,” he countered.

“Three fifty,” the owner shot back.

“Done,” he agreed, tossing the credits to the guy, who caught them greedily and handed over the charge packs, which went straight into his pack, along with the blasters.

Then, he nodded to the owner and continued on his way.

He'd barely gone five steps when he felt someone or something watching him.

Pausing outside a food vendor, he covertly glanced around, but couldn't see anyone suspicious, so he pressed on, but kept an eye out as the feeling didn't go away.

A couple of hours later he was all but done, having found a few weeks worth of fruit paste in a lucky score at one store and not one but four working datapads in another, something Barriss would really appreciate he thought. He hadn't had as much luck with the parts, but had enough to get on with for the time being.

He was also convinced that someone was tailing him and he could have sworn he saw a black cloaked figure step quickly back into an alley the last time he'd turned around, but maybe he'd just been down here too long and was getting paranoid.

All doubt was removed though, when he stopped at a clothing stall, looking for something newer for Barriss and caught sight of the dark figure stopping suddenly and way too casually browsing through the next stall over.

He couldn't get anything off them from the force, which only heightened his concern, because that meant they'd been trained to suppress their force presence.

After picking a set of day wear robes he thought she would like, he paid for them and walked away, keeping an eye on the figure as he did.

After a few seconds, they left the stall and began trailing after him.

He smiled grimly to himself, they were going to find out the hard way he wasn't the sort to trifle with.

He changed his pace, picking up speed slightly as he turned to head back home, taking a more direct route than he normally would so that whoever was following him could keep up.

When he reached their part of the underworld, instead of heading down the larger alley that led to their alley, he took a different one that led to a dead end alley he and Barriss had picked out as the perfect place to lead pursuers into an ambush because it was darker than most other alleys and had no windows overlooking it.

He turned down it and increased his speed, running to make sure he was in position before they followed him in.

Slipping into the darkness, he hid his bags of shopping and pressed himself into the side of the alley, hiding himself in the rubbish piled there, drawing his lightsaber from the hidden pocket in his robes and waited for them to make an appearance.

He didn't have to wait long.

Barely thirty seconds later, the cloaked figure entered the main alley and paused as they looked down the one he was currently hiding in, which gave him a moment to look them over, noting that they were on the smaller side and couldn't be carrying any weapons larger than a medium sized blaster.

They seemed to hesitate for a moment before they followed him in.

He waited for them to get close enough, then grabbed them by the collar and threw them against the wall, drawing a surprised groan of pain from them as he jammed his lightsaber hilt under their chin and ripped off their hood.

Instantly, his anger vanished, replaced by shock as he recognised the person under it.

“Ahsoka,” he gasped, lowering his lightsaber.

“Master,” she smiled, though there were tears in her eyes.

“I thought you were dead,” he whispered, pulling her into a tight hug.

“I know, I'm sorry, I should have tried to find you sooner,” she mumbled into his chest as her arms came up around him and squeezed him tightly.

“Well, you're here now,” he choked out, suddenly overcome with emotion as he hugged her tighter.

They stayed like that for a while, before reluctantly pulling apart.

“How did you survive?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

“It's not a story to be told out here,” he said quietly. “But I have a safe house nearby, we can talk there.”

“Okay,” she nodded and appeared to be about to add something when someone else entered the alley, someone with a very familiar and unwelcome force signature.

“No,” he gasped as the dark figure approached them, turning around and igniting his lightsaber as the clone came within striking distance.

The clone barely had time to let out a startled shout before his lightsaber was moving, hoping to kill him before he alerted any of the other troopers that were bound to be nearby.

The clone jerked back as his blade came down on him, but not enough to save his life.

However, just before blade met clone, there was a shout from behind him and a blue blade intercepted his, catching his strike and turning it aside.

“No Anakin, he's okay,” Ahsoka almost shouted, leaping between him and the clone. “We got his chip out.”

The clone, who had come within an inch of death had frozen and was slowly raising his hands to remove his hood. Anakin watched him suspiciously as he pulled it off, revealing a familiar blonde head.

“Yes General,” Rex said, sounding slightly shaken by his brush with death. “We got your message just before things went to hell and Ahsoka removed my chip before I could do any damage.”

Anakin glanced between them, breathing heavily from the sudden burst of adrenalin. He still wasn't sure he could trust his former Captain, but he deactivated his lightsaber in case anyone else came along and Ahsoka did the same.

“After everything, I'm not sure I trust you yet,” he told Rex. “But if Ahsoka vouches for you, that'll have to do for now.”

“I do,” she said firmly.

“Alright then, we need to get to my safe house, there are a lot of unfriendly eyes around here,” he muttered, picking up his bags again and slinging them over his shoulder as he pulled out his comm and sent a prearranged signal to Barriss, telling her he had someone with him and needed her to check for any tails.

They may have been his friend and former apprentice, but if the last few months had taught him anything, it was that you couldn't trust anyone anymore.

Barriss responded almost immediately with a simple double click through his comm, telling him she had received and understood his message and was getting into position.

“Follow me,” he said quietly, leading the way out of the alley and back towards the main street, watching them both out of the corner of his eye as he took them down the much longer route back home, giving Barriss time to catch up to them, not relaxing until he felt her presence slip into the alley behind them.

Ahsoka evidently sensed her as well, because she stiffened slightly and began subtly looking around until he caught her eye and shook his head.

She got the message and relaxed, giving him a slight nod as they continued on their way.

He kept up their meandering for another ten minutes, giving Barriss plenty of time to check for tails, before heading down their alley.

But instead of going to the front door of their home, he went past it and into an abandoned block of apartments five doors down that he and Barriss had scouted out the same time as the alley as a place to wait out pursuit, or give time for the other to check for any tails. It would also serve nicely as a place to have a quiet chat with a couple of friends.

They stepped into the dingy interior and he couldn't help but smile as Ahsoka wrinkled her nose at the smell.

“You get used to it,” he told her drily.

“I'll take your word for it,” she replied, as he led them down to the apartment they'd cleaned up a bit and waved them inside.

They stepped in cautiously and looked around while he secured the door behind them.

“Take a seat,” he said, nodding towards the pair of ancient sofas that were the only bit of furniture in the place, aside from the low table that sat between them.

They did, and he piled up his bags beside the sofa, before taking a seat opposite them and turning on an anti eavesdropping device he'd built from scavenged parts.

“Now what?” Ahsoka asked, slouching back on the sofa, while Rex sat military straight, their legs touching slightly, he noticed thoughtfully. Something to ask about later, he thought with a smile.

“We wait,” he said simply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yavin 4 or Lothal... That is the question.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka tells their story and gets Anakin and Barriss's.

After the drama of finally finding her former Master, then stopping him from killing Rex, it was safe to say Ahsoka was more than a little on edge as she followed Anakin through the underworld, not helped by the fact that he appeared to be going in circles.

Or the fact that she could sense someone was now tailing them, a presence that felt familiar but she couldn't quite place.

Stiffening slightly, she tried to look around without drawing attention to what she was doing.

Anakin evidently saw her and shook his head, which she took to mean he knew whoever it was that was following them and relaxed slightly as they continued on their way.

After fifteen more minutes spent wandering around, they reached an abandoned block of apartments and Anakin led them inside.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell and Anakin smiled.

“You get use to it,” he told her, heading deeper inside.

“I'll take your word for it,” she replied, following after him.

They stopped outside one room and Anakin opened the door and waved them inside, locking the door behind them as they stepped cautiously in and looked around.

It wasn't much, just a dirty, poorly maintained room with only two sofas and a table for furniture. Not exactly a life of luxury, she thought with a grimace.

“Take a seat,” he told them, nodding at the sofas that looked like they'd been made some time in the last millennium.

They did, sitting gingerly down as he piled up his shopping beside the other sofa and sat down across from them, activating some kind of electronic device that was sitting on one of the table between them.

“Now what?” she asked, taking a seat on the opposite sofa with Rex.

“We wait,” he said simply.

“For what?” she asked, as Rex sneezed quietly into his arm.

“I'm not alone down here,” Anakin said. “My... friend is checking to make sure no one followed you or that you led no one to us.”

“We wouldn't,” she said defensively.

“I know you wouldn't,” he said soothingly. “It's Rex I'm not sure about.”

“I understand Sir, I'd suspicious too if our positions were reversed,” Rex said, letting out another sneeze.

“Are you alright?” Anakin asked, concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I think I just picked up a cold in the last few days,” Rex replied.

“Ahh...”

After that, they sat in silence, glancing between one another until there was a knock at the door. Three taps, followed by two, then another three.

Anakin got up as they turned to look at the door and she sensed the vaguely familiar presence on the other side.

He opened the door and a dark hooded figure stepped inside and he quickly shut the door again.

They remained by the door and had a whispered conversation. She couldn't hear what they were saying but the relief from Anakin obviously meant that no one was following them.

She let out a small sigh of relief of her own as Anakin began talking now and if the flare of surprise and the way the figure glanced their way was any indication, he'd just told his friend who they were.

It was quickly clamped down however, but not before she detected just a hint of worry from them.

Curious now, she concentrated on them, trying to sense who they were, but they were hiding their presence too well.

Now Anakin was leaning closer to them, whispering quietly with his hand on their shoulder and Ahsoka had been in that position often enough to know he was trying to reassure them.

Evidently, it worked, as they nodded firmly and together, walked over to join them.

When they reached the sofas, they stopped and Anakin stepped slightly in front of the figure, whether to protect them or the figure Ahsoka didn't know as they paused to take a breath, before removing their hood and mask.

“Hello Ahsoka,” they said quietly as the hood fell back and it was Ahsoka's turn to be shocked as it revealed the face of her former best friend and betrayer.

“Barriss,” she said coldly, almost harshly, making the other woman wince.

“I'm sorry, for everything,” Barriss said quietly, bowing her head.

“As you should be,” Ahsoka retorted, before turning her glare to Anakin.

“What are you doing with her?” she demanded.

“Take it easy Ahsoka,” Anakin said as Barriss flinched away from her tone and towards him, she noted with no small degree of irritation. “We escaped the temple together and we've be hiding together since then trying to survive.”

“She betrayed me,” Ahsoka hissed. “She betrayed everyone and you're just standing there like that's nothing.”

“It's not nothing,” Anakin said soothingly. “But she was being manipulated like everyone else and she had a lot of time in prison to think about it, now she's making up for it. For now, please try to be... civil,” he added, looking at her imploringly.

She wasn't very happy with that answer and only reluctantly returned to her seat when Rex gently took her shoulder and pulled her back to sit beside him.

He also took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

That didn't stop her from glaring at Barriss as Anakin gave Rex a nod of thanks as he and Barriss took the seats opposite them.

Barriss caught her glare and dropped her gaze, staring at her hands clasped on her lap as Anakin cleared his throat.

“Before we get into things, I'd like Barriss to check Rex out and make sure there's no danger or anything,” he said.

Ahsoka leaned forward to protest, but Rex put his other hand on her arm.

“I'm happy to be checked,” Rex answered. “It'd give us peace of mind too,” he added with a look at Ahsoka.

Ahsoka sighed, but sat back and nodded once in agreement, though she wasn't happy about it.

“Good,” Anakin nodded, as Barriss stood up and moved behind their sofa.

As she passed, Ahsoka gave her her best death glare, which told her in no uncertain terms what would happen to her if anything happened to Rex.

“It won't take long,” Barriss said, stepping up behind Rex, ignoring Ahsoka's glare and how her hand was now gripping her lightsaber as Barriss placed her hands on Rex's head.

Barriss closed her eyes and her brow furrowed as she concentrated on whatever it was she was sensing from Rex.

After a couple of minutes, she took them off and smiled.

“He's clear, I can't sense anything that might be a chip or anything else dangerous. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about that cold, ” she said, returning to her seat. 

“I told you that already,” Ahsoka muttered, as Rex said that it was alright, earning her another look from him.

“I know,” Anakin said. “But we needed to make sure, there's more than just our lives at stake.”

Ahsoka opened her mouth to speak, but Anakin held up a hand.

“Before we answer any of your questions, we have some rather more pressing ones first.”

When both she and Rex nodded, he continued.

“Firstly, how did you find us?” he asked.

Rex looked at her, so she leaned forward again.

“It's hard to explain, but I had a vision that showed me where you were,” she said.

Anakin and Barriss glanced at each other, but accepted that.

“And how did you survive?” he asked.

“That's quite a story,” she said with a smirk. “Where do you want me to start?”

“How about from when you got my message?” Anakin suggested.

“Okay,” she nodded. “We'd just captured Maul and were in hyperspace on our way to Coruscant when we got your emergency broadcast.”

“We were both shocked, but Rex knew what you were talking about so we rushed to the medbay to get his chip out, though we weren't quick enough. On the way the Chancellor called and though Rex ignored it, someone else must have answered it because his chip activated, but I knocked him out before he could do any damage,” she said with a smirk at Rex.

“I got his chip out and he was back to normal, but the rest of our men were trying to kill us now, so we made our plans to escape and as a distraction, released Maul, which didn't go as planned since he destroyed the hyperdrive and damaged the ships engines,” she continued.

“The ship was going to crash into this moon and there was nothing we could do about it, so we took a Y-wing and watched the cruiser go down, then went to look for survivors.”

“There weren't any,” she said sadly and Rex pulled her into a sideways hug. “I killed them all.”

“We didn't have much choice,” Rex whispered quietly, she nodded and took a breath before continuing.

“So we buried those we could, then left the moon in the Y-wing, hoping to track down any other surviving Jedi.”

“So how did you end up here then?” Barriss asked curiously.

Ahsoka glared at her and Rex answered instead.

“That's a long story,” Rex said with a glance at Ahsoka.

“Yeah,” she said grudgingly. “And for it to make sense, we'll have to start at the beginning of our life on the run.”

“Alright then,” Anakin said, leaning back.

Ahsoka took a deep breath before she began their tale.

“When we left the moon, we only had half a tank of fuel left, so we headed for the nearest friendly world, hoping we could get another ship before the Republic caught up to us. But we weren't that lucky,” she sighed. “There was a cruiser in orbit above the world that detected us the moment we jumped into the system and despite Rex's best efforts, they demanded we dock in their hanger for an inspection. So we tried to make a run for the planet and got most of the way there before the fighters caught up to us. Rex shot down a few of them before one hit our engines and we went down.”

She paused to take another breath as Rex sneezed again, then continued.

“We ejected before impact, but I came down too close to the crash site and got hit by some shrapnel when it blew. Nothing serious, just enough to slow me down,” she added when she saw Anakin's expression.

“We were fortunate enough to crash near a city so we made our way there and reached the outskirts just as the gunships started landing troops to search for us.”

“We spent two weeks hiding and avoiding troops there,” she snorted, remembering the close calls they'd had. “The closest we came to being caught was when we got cornered in this alley with no way out and had to hide in one of the rubbish bins that were there and ended up spending seventeen hours hiding on top of rotting food scraps, thinking we'd be discovered at any moment,” she laughed. “Though, it wasn't all bad,” she added with a long look at Rex. “We realised some things in there about ourselves and each other.”

Then she noticed Anakin and Barriss exchange a look and smile.

“What?” She asked.

“You two are together now then?” Barriss asked.

“Yes,” Ahsoka smiled.

“Well, congratulations,” Anakin grinned, while Barriss just gave them happy smile.

“Thank you,” Ahsoka smiled. “Now where was I?”

“Love confessions in a trash can,” Anakin supplied.

“Right, so anyway, that went on for a few more days, then they seemed to decide that we'd managed to escape or something because they all just packed up and left, with only a few squads left to patrol the streets and guard the space port.”

“After that, we started going out more and hanging around in some of the... less frequented taverns and cantina's, mainly so we could find out what was going on in the galaxy, but also so we could see if we could get a ride off world, we also had to abandon our armour and clothes for something less conspicuous but we didn't have much of a choice.”

“It was in one of those that we saw that speech of Padmé's,” Ahsoka went on quietly, noticing how Anakin stiffened slightly and that Barriss gave his arm a squeeze. “What happened to make her hate you so much?”

“I don't know Snips,” Anakin said quietly. “I don't think we knew her at all.”

Ahsoka sighed.

“From there, we managed to hitch a ride with a smuggler and we spent about a month working with him before we... borrowed a ship from some pirates.”

Anakin snorted at that.

“And after that we did some odd jobs around the place while we tried to find a trace of any other survivors, until one night, I had a vision that you were hiding down in the lower levels of Coruscant and needed help. So we set a course for here and managed to sneak in and find a hanger we could rent deep down where no one would think to look for us. Then we started searching, it took us almost two weeks but today I finally got a sense of you and after trailing you around for a while, I followed you into that alley and you grabbed me and jammed your lightsaber against my throat,” Ahsoka finished with a smirk.

“Sorry,” Anakin said as Barriss snorted. “But you should know better than to sneak up on people.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka smiled, then her expression sobered. “I'm just glad it wasn't Rex that met you first.”

“Me too,” Anakin grimaced. “That would have gone... badly.”

“Still, it all worked out in the end,” Rex put in, attempting to diffuse the suddenly sombre atmosphere.

“Yes,” Barriss agreed. “And now that we're together, we have a far better chance against the empire.”

As she said this, Barriss glanced at her, looking cautiously hopeful and as much as she wanted to sneer back and tell her she wouldn't work with the Mirialan, she couldn't bring herself to dash the hope she saw that maybe, just maybe, she could fix things between them.

So she gave a nod and what she hoped was a, if not reassuring, then at least a grudgingly accepting smile.

Barriss evidently took it that way as she didn't quite sag in relief, but it was a near thing.

So with the tension lowered slightly between them, she asked the question she'd been burning to ask since she'd found Anakin.

“How did you guys make it out?” 

“Coincidence, chance and a great deal of luck,” Anakin replied with a sad smile at Barriss, who returned it and gave his hand another squeeze.

Then he launched into the story of what happened, starting with a conversation he'd had with the Chancellor and Padmé and Ahsoka was horrified to learn that they'd been behind the whole war and that they'd framed her and manipulated Barriss into doing their dirty work for them.

She looked at Barriss with new understanding as the Mirialan kept her head bowed through that part of the story.

Then he moved on to his talk with Master Windu, his wait in the council chambers, sensing the Masters deaths and sending the emergency message before the signal was jammed.

He turned grim as he described watching the 501st march into the temple, killing every Jedi they met and how he had to fight back to save those he could.

Ahsoka had tears in her eyes when he told them how he'd saved some of the older younglings and even Rex paled when he said what he'd found in the crèche.

His smile returned, albeit weakly, when he told them of finding Barriss in the prison, freeing her and their escape down the tunnels to the underworld.

Then Barriss picked up the story and gave a brief account of their lives since then, from the daily struggle to survive, to teaching the younglings that had essentially become their children and their plans to try get off world. 

“So let me get this straight,” Ahsoka said when Barriss finished.”You've been living down here for five months with a dozen kids?”

“Yep,” Anakin said, with a slightly crazy smile.

“Wow,” Ahsoka laughed. “How did you manage that?”

“I had almost three years practice looking after you,” he replied and Barriss snorted. So did Rex as Ahsoka glared at them all.

“I wasn't that bad,” she muttered.

“True,” Anakin conceded. “Not nearly as bad as I was.”

“Finally, you admit it,” Ahsoka teased.

Everyone laughed, then Barriss glanced at her chrono.

“We should head back, the kids will be wondering what's going on,” she said.

“Yeah,” Anakin agreed, getting to his feet.

Barriss quickly followed and together they picked up all the shopping between them.

“What about us?” Ahsoka asked as she and Rex stood as well.

Barriss and Anakin glanced at each other and seemed to have a conversation of sorts before coming to an agreement.

“You can come back to our place, we'll just need to talk to the kids before you come inside. And...” he said hesitantly. “You'll have to give us your weapons Rex, just until the kids get used to you not being a threat.”

“I understand,” Rex nodded.

“Thanks,” Anakin smiled, before heading for the door and back outside again.

The journey to their place wasn't long, just across the road, behind an unassuming door which led to a small corridor that had another, stronger looking door at the end.

“Wait here,” Anakin said as he held out his hands for Rex's weapons. Rex handed them over without complaint and moved to stand to the side as Barriss and Anakin went through the door and closed it behind them.

“I hope this goes well,” Rex whispered quietly. 

“Me too,” she whispered back, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka and Rex meet the kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up becoming more filler than anything else, something to bridge the gap between between this part and the next one.
> 
> But anyway, enjoy.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Barriss and Anakin found themselves surrounded by a crowd of excited and nervous children, all talking, and all wondering who it was on the other side of the door.

“Go sit down, then we'll talk about it,” Anakin said, dumping his bags on the table and starting to shed his disguise.

Barriss did the same and soon they were both back to their regular appearance and once they'd washed up, they went to join the kids on the sofa.

“So,” Anakin began as he stood in front of them, while Barriss took a seat. “All of you can probably sense that we have guests.”

All the kids nodded, even Grogu, though Anakin doubted he had any idea of what was actually going on.

“Good, now before we tell you who they are, I just want to assure you that Barriss and I have checked them out and we are confidant they pose no threat to us, okay?”

Again they all nodded.

“Because if we thought they could hurt us in any way, we never would have brought them here,” Barriss put in.

“Yes,” Anakin agreed. “You are all too important to us to take any risks with.”

Barriss nodded solemnly.

“Nothing is more important to us than your safety.”

The kids smiled at that, looking more reassured than they had before.

“So who's out there?” Anni asked.

“My former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano,” Anakin said.

“Ahsoka's alive!?” Katooni practically shouted.

“Yeah,” Anakin grinned, knowing from her stories that Ahsoka had taken Katooni and the rest of her age-mates for their gathering, before they were captured by pirates and had to escape.

“Who's the other person then?” Ganodi asked.

Anakin paused before responding.

“Rex, my former Captain,” he said quietly, noticing the gasps some of the kids let out as they realised who he was talking about, saw their looks of fear as they glanced towards the door. “He's okay, we've checked him and there was no sign of any chip or influence on his mind.”

“He could just be pretending,” Kalami said, to nods of agreement from some of the others.

“He could be,” Anakin conceded. “But we don't think so, Barriss looked into his mind and couldn't see any deceit there, and you know how good she is at sensing lies,” he added with a smirk.

Kalami, along with Ashla and Kellan, blushed faintly and looked down.

“And Ahsoka wouldn't have come with him if she thought he might be bad,” Katooni said, almost to herself.

“Yes,” Barriss agreed. “And considering he also helped her survive that day, that's another mark in his favour.”

Then Anakin turned his gaze to Anni, who had become the unofficial leader of the kids when decisions had to be made, to see what she was thinking.

She was frowning thoughtfully and when she noticed him looking, her expression cleared.

“What do you think Anni, prepared to give him a chance?” He asked.

“Okay,” she said after a moment. “And... and you'll protect us if he isn't safe.”

“We will,” Barriss promised, getting to her feet and moving to crouch by where they were sitting. “We won't let anything happen to you.”

“You promise?” Ashla whispered.

“I promise,” Barriss whispered back, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

“But nothings going to happen,” Anakin said as he joined them, crouching beside Barriss. “I think we can trust Rex.”

“Okay,” Anni said and the rest of the kids nodded, some still a bit reluctantly. “Let's get this over with.”

“Alright then,” he said, standing up and beginning to make his way over to the door.

The rest of them quickly followed behind him, though they stopped some distance from the door and crowded around behind Barriss, with the older kids standing protectively in front of the younger ones, apart from Grogu, who Anni was carrying, and Zima who was in Barriss's arms.

He smiled proudly at them for a moment before opening the door.

  


* * *

  


Rex was surprised when the door opened barely ten minutes after Anakin and Barriss had gone inside, having expected it to take much longer to convince the kids he was okay.

He hoped that meant things were going to be okay, because as much as he loved Ahsoka, he missed being part of a larger group.

And when Anakin's head appeared in the gap with a smile on his face, he felt hopeful.

“Alright, they've agreed that you can come in, just take it slowly and no sudden movements,” Anakin told them with a smirk.

“Okay,” Ahsoka nodded and Rex did as well.

“Good, come on in then,” he said, disappearing back inside.

Rex gestured for Ahsoka to go first, so she went through the door, to several exclamations of surprise and happiness, evidently recognised by some of the children.

Then he walked through, and the room went silent as a dozen children stared at him with varying levels of fear, all tensed as if ready to take action at the slightest sign of him trying anything.

He gave them what he hoped was a reassuring and friendly smile.

“Hello, my name's Rex,” he introduced himself.

Only the Pantoran girl that was standing beside Anakin said hello back, though he did get a little wave from the baby Yoda Anakin was now carrying.

It was still better than what he expected, so he allowed himself to relax a bit, coming out of his parade rest stance to a more relaxed position.

But now he was at a loss for what to do, so he glanced at Ahsoka, who took the hint and began speaking, telling them briefly what had happened to them and how they'd come to be here.

And it went well, Rex thought, the children slowly relaxed, though they didn't quite seem comfortable with him, which Rex understood.

But just when he thought it was going great, he felt a tickle in his nose and before he could catch it, a loud sneeze escaped him.

Instantly, six lightsabers sprung to life as the older children drew theirs and backed away from him, shielding the younger ones behind them.

Then they all froze, waiting to see what would happen next.

“It was sneeze,” Anakin said quietly, turning to look at them with a reassuring smile. “Just a sneeze.”

Slowly, the children relaxed from their combat stances, though they looked warier than before. 

Ahsoka looked pained, while Barriss was whispering quietly to the girl she was holding.

Only Anakin looked calm, something he appeared to have mastered in his time down here because Rex couldn't remember ever seeing him like that before. And that more than anything got the kids to stand down.

Even Ahsoka looked impressed.

“Maybe if they could sit and talk to us for a while it would help?” Ahsoka suggested.

“We are here you know,” the Pantoran girl said, and Anakin smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder.

And Rex couldn't help but notice the bond between them, like the one Ahsoka had had with him before everything.

“What do you think?” Anakin asked quietly.

When they nodded, he ushered them over to one of the sofa's. Barriss sat down as well and immediately had a couple of kids climb on her along with the girl she was already carrying, while Ahsoka and Rex sat alone on the other sofa.

While they got themselves settled, Anakin passed the baby he was carrying to another kid and went to the kitchen, returning with a tray of drinks for everyone and passed them out before sitting down between the Pantoran girl and a Wookiee boy.

Almost immediately, the baby climbed over the other kids to get to him and settled itself on his lap.

“So,” Anakin said, patting the little thing on it's head. “I suppose we should start with introductions.”

“Always a good place to start,” Barriss agreed with a smile and proceeded to introduce the kids around her.

Zimaza, Kalami, Katooni, Breeala, Cato and Kellarn. Names Rex filed away, hoping he'd remember them later.

Then Anakin took over introduced those around him.

Anni, Gungi, Ashla, Ganodi, Alura, Hesha...

“And finally, Grogu,” he finished, indicating the baby on him.

“It's great to meet you all,” Ahsoka smiled.

“Yeah,” Rex added. “It's good to see some friendly faces again.”

There was quiet for a bit after that, and no one seemed to want to break it.

“So,” Barriss prompted. “Who wants to ask the first question?”

“I will,” Anni said, leaning forward, hands clasped on her lap. “How did you survive?”

“We got lucky,” Ahsoka began quietly. “We were alone when the order came down and I knocked Rex out before his chip properly activated so he didn't turn like the rest of my men. We had to fight our way out but we managed to escape my ship in a Y-Wing and went on the run.”

“Wow,” a couple of kids said quietly.

“Alright, your turn,” Anni said.

“Okay,” Ahsoka nodded, frowning thoughtfully. “What's it like living down here?”

That got an enthusiastic response as they all began talking about being stuck inside most of the time, how bland the food was, how dangerous it was, what training they still did and a number of other things Rex couldn't keep track of. One thing he did notice though, was how much Barriss and Anakin featured in these stories and how obvious it was that they were adored by the children, it reminded him of the families he and Ahsoka had seen while they were on the run. The thought made him smile as the kids went on and on about this and that and what they wanted to do when they finally got out of this place.

After that, things were more relaxed, with questions flying back and forth. From serious ones like “How did they find them down here?” to ones like “Do you like the taste of dry rations or wet ones better?” and the next time he looked at his chrono, three hours had passed and everyone was a lot more relaxed.

They were still a bit wary of Rex, but far less than when he arrived which was good.

A couple of questions later, Anakin stood up.

“You guys keep going, I'll get some dinner ready.”

“Okay,” some of the kids said, though Anni got up as well and went to help.

When they called them over ten minutes later, Rex wasn't expecting much and wasn't surprised to see plates with rations from a ration pack as their dinner.

They all took their seats and dug in, with only minimal complaints from a few of the kids and to their amusement, Ahsoka.

They ate in silence, everyone having talked themselves out over the last few hours and when they were finished, Rex offered to do the dishes and Ahsoka said she'd help too.

So while they did that, Anakin and Barriss got their kids ready for bed.

Soon after, the thirteen kids were in their pyjamas and saying goodnight to each other, Anakin and Barriss. A couple even said quiet ones to him and Ahsoka, which made him feel better than he had for months.

Once all the kids were tucked in, they returned to the sofas to talk some more before they went to bed as well.

They didn't end up talking about much in particular, just unimportant things or reminiscing about the way things were before Barriss said she was tired and went to bed with a lingering touch on Anakin's arm as she left.

Not long after, Rex decided to head to bed as well and Ahsoka said she'd join him after giving Anakin a quick hug and followed him to the bunks they'd been assigned.

He lay down on the bottom one and she climbed up to the top, whispering goodnight to him as she did.

Rex closed his eyes and a smile spread across his face.

Things were finally starting to look up again.

  


* * *

  


When Ahsoka woke the next morning, it took her a moment to remember where she was. When she did, she smiled and let out a sigh of relief, things were finally starting to look up again, and now that they had Anakin and even Barriss with them, once they got off world they could start doing something about the new Empire.

As quietly as possible, she got down from her bunk and walked softly to the kitchen to get a drink of water, turning to face the beds as took a sip.

As she did, she had a moment of panic when saw almost all the other beds were empty and was just about to let out a cry of alarm when she saw the big lumps on the last two beds in the row.

A sigh of relief escaped her, then she smiled, wishing she had a holorecorder so that she could take a picture of Anakin and Barriss buried under all their children. It looked so cute.

Instead, she just watched them for a while, enjoying the first moment of peace she'd had in who knew how long.

Before too long, Anakin began to stir and she almost laughed at his expression when he discovered all the kids on him.

He must have sensed her amusement however, because he adjusted himself so that he could look at her.

She waved cheerfully back and snorted when he rolled his eyes and began to extract himself.

When he finally managed to escape, after shaking off several sleepy attempts to stop him, he came over and joined her at the table.

“I hope we're not the cause of that,” Ahsoka grinned, though there was a hint of worry in her eyes as she nodded over at the bed he'd just left.

“Nah,” he smirked. “That's fairly normal.”

“Oh, okay,” she replied, then added more quietly, “Nightmares?”

“Yeah,” he sighed.

Ahsoka sighed to, but didn't know what to say.

“They're all getting better though, it's only Zima we're worried about,” he added when she remained quiet.

“Oh, that's good then,” she said.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

After that, they remained quiet until the rest of the “family” began to join them, rubbing sleep from their eyes as they took their seats at the table.

Ahsoka helped Anakin with breakfast this time, and together, they dished out the ration bars that were chosen for today, letting out a quiet cheer of her own when Anakin pulled out some preserved fruit packets for dessert.

Once they were done and the kids had cleared up, Barriss told them to start on their lessons for the day before rejoining them at the table.

“What are your plans now?” She asked, glancing between them.

“Um...” Ahsoka said, glancing at Rex as well. “We hadn't really thought past finding Anakin again,” she admitted.

“Well...” Barriss began, with a glance at Anakin, who nodded. “You could stay with us for as long as you want to, we could use the extra help, especially if we want to get off world any time soon.”

Ahsoka glanced at Rex again, who nodded, with a huge smile on his face.

“We'd love to,” she told Barriss.

“Great,” Anakin grinned. “It'll be nice to have some more adults around,” he added quietly.

“Yeah,” Barriss agreed with a smile. “And it'll be so much easier to get off world now, since I take your ship is large enough to hold more than two people?”

“Yep,” Ahsoka nodded. “It's a small cargo shuttle, but still large enough to take at least twenty adults.”

“So with mostly kids, we'll have plenty of room to spare,” Anakin smiled.

“Yep,” Ahsoka smirked. “Most of them should fit in the cargo lockers.”

“I heard that!” Anni shouted from the other side of the room.

Everyone laughed.

“Right, we've got lessons to get on with,” Anakin said, rising to his feet. “But you're more than welcome to join in,” he smirked. “Then later, we can discuss plans to get out of this dump.”

“Alright,” Ahsoka agreed, rising and joining them as they crossed the room.

This should be fun, she thought to herself as she settled herself down with the kids, who all looked eager to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for now folks, tune in next time for their escape from Coruscant.


End file.
